Thank you for your reviews, I still get ridiculously happy every time I get them.
Just to make things clear, the first part here is the ending on the last chapter, but it's also an ending on one of Sookie's dreams, but I think you'll understand when reading.
"I found them," the were said and sneered broadly again.
A long, wild laugh was heard through the phone, before a strongly southern accented voice drooled, "Wonderful. I'm on my way."
Sookie bolted awake, gasping and looking franticly at her surroundings, trying to figure out where she was. Still dark, still night. She was in a bed-
"Sookie," Eric's strong arms grabbed her gently by the shoulders and he turned her to look at him. "What is wrong?"
"We need to get out of here," she whispered, still shocked from the nightmare.
"Why?" The vampire furrowed his brow and looked questioning at her.
"Someone is watching us," Sookie hissed and scooted out of the bed, before crawling to the window, making sure not to be seen from outside.
"What are you talking about?" Eric still looked confused, but started to realize that something was indeed up as he watched her crawl over the floor. "And what are you doing?" He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, making an attempt to stand up, but Sookie shook her head furiously.
"Stay there," she gestured, before carefully peeking through the window. Just as she'd feared. A man was standing on the street. Definitely the same man as in her dream. He turned his face upwards, and Sookie shot down on the floor again. She scooted over to the bed, to the utterly confused Eric.
"We need to go," she repeated, and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards her on the floor. Eric looked at her as if he thought she'd gone mad, but settled next to her. She had realized when she'd lifted her hand, that she was trembling, and now, Eric put his strong arms around her in an attempt to sooth it.
"Sookie, you need to calm down," he said firmly, "Explain."
"I had one of those stupid vision- dreams Claudine told me about," she said, "One of Russell Edgington's weres is here, in Sweden. Outside our bedroom window." Eric's eyes widened briefly, but he stayed quiet to let her finish. "And he just called Russell, who is right now on his way here." Eric was silent, and for a moment, Sookie started to think that he would just laugh it away and say it was a stupid dream.
"Dawn is twenty minutes away, at most," he then stated, before moving in vampire speed over to the floor to the pile that was their clothes, "I can fly you to Alma's house in twenty five."
"I don't get the math," Sookie protested as Eric pushed her clothes to her over the floor, and she started to do her best getting dressed in hunching position. "There is a five minute gap there in which you will be out in daylight. How are you planning on doing that?" Even if Eric would drink from her, he would only sustain a minute, and that was to stretch it.
"Sun rises slowly. I can be out a minute or two at dawn without getting severely burned," Eric said, as if it was that simple. He had managed to get his clothes on, and Sookie scooted over to him and followed out in the hallway, where they could finally stand up straight without risking being seen. "We'll take the kitchen window," he grabbed her hand and pulled her out in the kitchen, but by now, his previous sentence had sunken in, and Sookie glared furiously at him.
"We need a better plan," she hissed and attempted to stop, but Eric answered with simply picking her up.
"Do you have any other suggestions?" he wondered as he opened the window. Sookie squirmed, but knew it was a lost battle. She was desperate though, to get Eric to NOT risk his life again, but she couldn't come up with any other ideas. Simply killing the wolf wouldn't help. Then they would have a body on their hands to. And they couldn't just stay here. This would of course be the first place Russell came to look. Better plans had to wait. They needed time.
"No," she admitted.
"Then hold on," Eric said, and she did. She wrapped both arms and legs around the vampire's strong body, and the next second, they were out in the air. This was when she realized just how fast Eric could fly. The previous times, it had been like floating. They had been soaring peacefully and when off the ground, she'd felt free from her troubles. Now however, the vampire was using a speed she thought she would never experience. Everything around her was a blur, and her eyes stung when she opened them. Burying her face against Eric's chest, she desperately tried to keep the fear in check. At the moment, she wasn't only worrying about flying in unnatural speed with a vampire only minutes away from dawn, but her main fear was the threat of Russell. It had felt so distant. And now suddenly, it was there. She forced herself not to think about it right now. Her heart was already racing in fear at the speed and the threat of the sun, she couldn't add more to that list.
The more time she could comprehend was passing, the more grew the cold lump of fear in her stomach. She turned her head, and her breath got stuck in her throat. The sky was starting to turn golden in the horizon, the sun threatening close now. She looked up at Eric. His face was stoic, but there was a tension around his mouth and eyes, telling her that he was indeed suffering from the faint light.
"Eric!" she screamed through the wind, "You need to get down!" He ignored her, and somehow managed to increase the speed even more. "It will be dawn any minute!" Sookie screamed again, and right then, the first rays of the sun showed at the horizon. A tremor went through Eric's body, and for a moment of blind panic, Sookie thought he would drop her, but the vampire steadied himself, and to her great relieve, started to go lower down over the woods under them. Within seconds, they had reached the trees and Eric sped down to avoid the branches, and a few seconds later, they were finally on the ground. Eric released her and she immediately pulled away to study the damage. There were no full burns yet, but small wounds were appearing over his bare shoulders and his face, smoke slowly rising from the burning flesh.
"In the ground now!" She virtually shouted and helped him as he fell to his knees and started to dig. With Eric's strength and speed, it only took seconds to make a large hole in the ground, but Sookie felt it as if it had been eternities. Eric leaped down in the hole and reached her his cellphone.
"Call Alma. Tell her that you are a few miles south of the old mill, she'll know what you mean ," he said as she started shoveling dirt over him with frantic movements. "Do not leave here without her. And do not leave her house when you get there-"
"Yes. Shut up now, I need to cover you up," Sookie cut him off. Eric himself might not be worried over burning flesh, but Goddammit, she was. Eric gave her a half smirk, before closing his eyes to avoid getting dirt in them as she pushed the last of the dirt over him, finally covering all of the sensitive skin. After making sure there were no possibilities of the sunlight reaching Eric, Sookie collapsed in a heap on the ground. The adrenaline rush was wearing off, and she felt shaky to say the least. Her body was covered in cold sweat and dirt, the latest hour had just been far too much for her, and all she really wanted to do was to curl up into fetal position and cry. Or sleep. Whatever came first. Though Sookie forced herself to do neither of those things. There was time for breakdowns later. Now she needed to get out of this forest. She fumbled with the cellphone in her hands, and scrolled through the contacts. Alma was due to logical reasons almost on the top, and she pushed the "call" button.
"Hallå det är Alma," Hello, it's Alma, okay not what she was expecting. Sookie sat there dumbfounded for a moment, before figuring out that she probably should present herself.
"Hello," she began hesitantly "It's Sookie Stackhouse."
"Oh Sookie," Alma exclaimed, "I wasn't expecting it to be you."
"Well, it is me," she said, "I've got kind of a huge problem here-" she quickly told Alma about the whole thing with the were, though she left out the part of how she'd found out about him, and was therefore a bit surprised as the woman didn't question her story.
"Åh kära hjärtanes då," Oh dear, Alma mumbled, "Don't worry honey," she then said in a soft, comforting tone, "Vilda will come and pick you up. She'll be there in just a few minutes."
"Okay," Sookie immediately felt relieved that someone else was taking charge. "I'll just wait here."
"You do that," Alma said, "Vilda is on her way."
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it dear. I'll see you soon," the elf finished off and after saying good bye herself, Sookie hung up. Now, there was nothing more to do than to wait. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Then she just sat there. Apathetic. She stared at a close by tree trunk, keeping her gaze there. If she didn't think about the situation, she couldn't freak out about it. Not Russell. Think about anything but Russell. She must've been sitting there for quite some time, because suddenly, she heard a voice.
"Sookie!" she jumped at the sound and turned around to see a Vilda approaching. She was wearing both a leather jacket and leather pants, and Sookie thouht briefly about it, before realizing that she was staring.
"Vilda," she exclaimed and got to her feet, only to almost slump back down as her legs refused to carry her weight. The redheaded elf was by her side in an instant and steadied her.
"Easy there," she said and held the alarmingly swaying Sookie by her shoulders, "Let's get you to mom's house."
"How did you know where I was?" Sookie wondered as they started to slowly make their way through the forest, she had suddenly remembered that she'd forgotten to tell Alma the `old mill´part.
"The trees told me," Vilda answered simply and nodded to one of the large pine trees. To that, Sookie didn't know how to respond. So she just kept quiet.
They reached a small road. Or road. It was basically just two tire tracks.
"Wow," was all Sookie could say as she caught eye of the motorcycle standing in one of the tracks. Leather outfit explained.
"Yep, this is my baby," Vilda said with a smile as she walked up to the vehicle and unlooked the heavy steel chain that was wrapped around one of the tires. "Mom hates it. She says its dangerous blah blah blah…"
"But isn't it?" Sookie asked as she carefully approached.
"Only if you don't know how to drive it," the redhead assured. "And if you don't wear a helmet." She grabbed a helmet, and opened a bag on the side to pick out one that she handed for Sookie to put on. The telepath hesitantly brought the helmet over her blond locks. Vilda swung a leg over the motorcycle.
"Hop up," she encouraged Sookie, who still felt very skeptical about it, but realized that she didn't have much of a choice. She sat up behind Vilda and wrapped her arms around her leather clad waist. For the second time that morning, she was told to hold on, before the motorcycle roared to life. If I can fly, I can do this too, Sookie thought to herself as they set of down the bumpy road. Vilda drove fast, but surprisingly steady over the bumps, though Sookie still didn't feel very comfortable. Not that she didn't trust her driving skills, but motorcycles wasn't her thing.
The ride went smooth though, and a few minutes later, she could glance something through the trees' branches. Something white. They were approaching a large house, beautifully imbedded by large oaks. Roses clung on the façade, almost all the way up to the second floor, starkly contrasting against the white. There was no lawn around the house, or well at some point the wild grass might have been a lawn, but now it had grown to look more like a meadow. A small gravel path led up to the house, and Vilda parked the motorcycle by the end of it. She dismounted and helped Sookie, who by now was beyond shaky.
"Let's get you inside." Vilda smiled comforting as they started to walk towards the house. They stepped onto the porch and Vilda opened the door.
"Mom, we're here!"
"Well I'm glad you got here in one piece." Alma came jogging down the stairs, "You know what I think of that monster." Sookie guessed she was referring to the motorcycle and she smiled to herself as Vilda muttered something about being a grown woman, and in no need of people fussing over her. Moms never stopped being moms, no matter how old their kids got.
"How are you Sookie?" Alma walked down the last part of the stair and came to stand before her, studying her worriedly. "You look a bit pale."
"Yeah I guess I am a bit pale," Sookie mumbled absently and looked down on her hands. "And muddy." She added.
"Poor thing." The elder woman shook her head. "I've put out some clean towels and clothes for you in the bathroom. You can take a shower and just rest for a bit before we talk this whole thing through."
"No we need to talk now, and I can't sleep until Eric is here," Sookie protested and shook her head. "We need to come up with something to do, Russell is coming- and and Eric is in the ground- " she was just rambling now, and Alma took her gently by the shoulders, stopping the incoherent string of words.
"Calm down honey," she said, "You need to rest. Eric will be fine. Russell doesn't know that you are here, we have time to figure something out."
"But-" Sookie started.
"Take a shower and then go to bed," Alma took her hand and led her up the stair, "You'll think much clearer after sleeping for a couple of hours."
"Okay." Sookie gave up.
"We have a guest bedroom just over there."Alma pointed at a door further down the short corridor, "I've made the bed for you."
"Thank you." Sookie made a grateful smile, before going into the bathroom and closing the door.
Alma went downstairs and walked into her kitchen, where Vilda was busy making tea. She always made tea when she had nothing better to do.
"How is she?" Vilda eyed her worriedly.
"She is… overwhelmed I think," Alma said and went to sit next to her daughter, "It has probably been a very trying couple of days for her."
"You are probably right," the younger elf nodded, "Though she is handling it quite well."
"Yes. She is strong."
"Have you thought of any way to help them?" Vidla asked.
"Maybe. But I cannot tell you more about it."Alma sighed, causing her daughter to roll her eyes in annoyance.
"Why do you have to be so damn mysterious?"
"Because what I'm thinking about doing, is to greatly disturb the fragile balance in nature," Alma said patiently, "And if I shall have even the slightest possibility of succeeding, it needs to stay a secret."
"Just give me a clue."
"Very well, but then, we're leaving the subject." Vilda nodded eagerly.
"We'll seek help from another vampire," Alma said.
"Someone older than Russell?"
"No."
"Then how is that helpfull?"
"Older than Eric. It will even the odds."
"But wouldn't it be easier to just find someone super old and just let them kick his ass?" At this Alma had to smile. Vilda could still be so naive.
"There are few vampires who are older than Russell Edgington. And why would they help us?"
Vilda grew quiet, seeing the logic in this. "That must mean that the vampire you are thinking about is someone we know," she then said, and Alma nodded. "But you still won't tell me who it is?"
"No."
"But why?"
"I already mentioned the balance in na-"
"yeah yeah, the nature's balance, you shall not interfere with the natural order of things blah blah blah."
They were both silent for awhile, before Vilda spoke again. "I believe Eric told her about us. The elf thing I mean."
"I believe so to," Alma agreed, "It seems unlikely that he'd keep secrets from her."
"I was kind of surprised to see that she was a fairy," Vilda pondered, "I didn't think there were any left on Earth these days."
"Yes it was quite the surprise." Alma stood up, deciding that she needed fresh air, "I will go out and wait for Eric. I need to find some answers." Vilda nodded in understanding.
Alma went outside, and made her way to the oldest oak tree in the garden, the place she'd always found good in the searching for advice. With a few swift motions, she positioned herself on one of the branches and leaned against the trunk. She closed her eyes and let the tree's conscious seep into her own, seeking for answers in the ancient wisdom. Alma let herself drift off into the never ending string of whispers in the leaves, and when she opened her eyes again, the sun had set. She sat up and stretched the muscles in her neck. Sitting several hours in the same position wasn't very good for the muscles, but at least she had found the answers she was looking for.
"Alma." She looked down and saw Eric standing on the ground. He was covered in mud and dirt, even though he'd tried to wipe some of it off, and she had to smile at the sight. "Shall I come up?" the vampire asked, but she shook her head.
"No, I'm coming down," she said and jumped off the branch, landing softly on the ground.
"Over five hundred years old, and still climbs trees like a ten-year-old," Eric smirked.
"Hush you," Alma admonished, but smiled, "You never talk about a woman's age." She grew serious again, forcing herself to think of the gravity in the situation.
"Let's go inside," she said and started walking back towards the house, "It's safer."
"Is Sookie okay?" Eric asked as he followed her over the meadow that once had been a lawn.
"Yes. She was weary and tired, but I think I managed to get her to bed," Alma stopped and turned to Eric, sighing, "I might have found a solution for the problem, but it will take time. In the best scenario, two weeks, in the worst, several months." Or not at all. She didn't say the last part out loud.
"Believe me, I'm open for anything right now." Eric said, and for once, he looked defeated, "I'm hiding. Like a fucking coward. It's not my usual way of dealing with things."
"I know," Alma said softly and laid a hand on his shoulder, "But you have to remember that you are doing this to keep Sookie safe. Because you care about her."
"I love her," Eric said quietly. Alma smiled.
"I know," she whispered, "I realized it the minute I saw you two together."
See, no cliffhangers. But this is just for now. We're getting to the final chapters of the story, and things will get even more intense from now on. There will about four or five more chapters, depending on how I split the events up. Give me some review love:)